27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
Habakkuk 1:2-3,2:2-4 | Psalm 94:1-2,6-9 | 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14 | Luke 17:5-10
I am reminding you to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:6-7)
Power, love, self-control. Not unmitigated zeal.
The faithful who practice sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics are zealous, no doubt, but it’s very easy to cross the line into personal harassment and public shaming of women at a vulnerable juncture in their lives.
It’s much more effective to counsel in a quiet, non-judgemental and one-on-one basis, and that works for many subjects besides abortion. Unfortunately, many of us aren’t in a position to talk to our friends and acquaintances in this fashion, because we don’t know enough to even talk coherently about the subject at hand beyond “don’t do it, it’s a sin, you’ll go to hell,” and we dread the inevitable question “so what should I do then?” So we keep silent, and our loved ones take a deep dive into a personal hell.
Just recently, a friend complained to me that a certain Dominican priest keeps talking about Catholic principles instead of giving her straight answers about specific situations. I think I annoyed her when I agreed with that priest, but I learned an important lesson early in my consulting career: If you’re not me, it’s really hard to understand where I’m coming from. Even if you were relentless in your questioning, you’re still likely to miss some important details that introduce complications into what you think is a simple situation, but for me is a life-ending disaster. If I then acted on your advice in blind faith, I risk making my situation even worse. You might also annoy me so much with your probing that I shut you out, thus defeating your efforts.
It’s much better to begin by learning more about the tenets of Catholicism, to be more involved in our common faith, and not just stopping at a mechanical presence at church each Sunday. That way, we have the power of sacred knowledge that enables us to act in love, while exerting the confident self-control to guide others gently towards a better understanding of their situation, and potential solutions that would keep them on the way of Truth and Life.